Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. Flattery will get him everywhere. The Government’s waste policy, A Resource Opportunity - Waste Management Policy in Ireland, was published in July 2012. Among the measures included in the policy document was the establishment of an interdepartmental working group to report to the Government with options to minimise the impact of waste charges on low income families. The working group, which comprises representatives of my Department and the Departments of Social Protection, Public Expenditure and Reform, Finance and the Tánaiste's Office, submitted its second report to Government on 23 July 2013.

The Government considered the report. Given the complexity of the issues involved, including the fact that the vast majority of households have moved away from local authority collection - I understand only Kilkenny and Killarney are still involved in it - and have engaged private waste collectors on whom it would be difficult to impose any obligation to provide a waiver system, the Government mandated the working group to continue to examine the issue, with a view to submitting a third report to it shortly. All of those issues are being examined and I expect the report to come before the Government very soon. It is something of which I am quite mindful. It is a complex area, given the fragmentation of waste collection services across the country.

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